Computing devices such as personal computers (PCs) typically include one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs) on which various components are mounted to form printed circuit assemblies (PCAs). Such components include those that generate heat during their operation. One type of component that often generates large quantities of heat is a microchip, such as a microprocessor.
Due to the great heat generated by some components, heat sinks are sometimes employed to remove heat from the components and transfer that heat to the ambient air that surrounds the components. For example, it is now common to mount heat sinks to microprocessors to reduce the heat of the microprocessors during their operation. In some cases, a manufacturing error that results in the absence of such a heat sink can cause operational errors to occur due to overheating of the component. Therefore, it may be important to ensure that a given heat sink is present.
Due to the importance of such heat sinks, it is desirable to inspect a computing device during manufacturing to verify that the heat sink(s) of the device is/are present. Currently, such inspection is typically accomplished visually. In the case of a PC, for example, the presence of a given heat sink is manually confirmed by a human being before the PC outer housing is installed. If inspection is desired after that point, the outer housing must be removed before such inspection can take place.
It would be desirable to have a system and method for determining whether a heat sink is installed that does not require visual inspection.